HWDT Sightings

Click here   for a list of recent sightings in the Hebrides

For more information on Bottlenose Dolphin Sightings click here.

Updates

2008    Spring        

2007    Autumn      Summer        Spring    

2006    Winter   Summer   Spring        

2005    click here

      April 2008

The month of April seems to have marked the beginning of the season with a large variety of sightings and a steady increase in the number being reported.  We have so far had three minke sightings in April indicating their return for the summer to feed on the rich food supply here. The first minke sighting of the year was off Ardnamurchan Point and the other was seen from Skelmorlie, briefly surfacing three times and then traveling rapidly onwards up the Firth of Clyde. Local operator Sea Life Surveys also reported seeing a minke feeding with shearwaters off Ardnamurchan.

April has also been a very busy month for bottlenose dolphin sightings with a total of eleven separate sightings reported. The majority of these sightings have been around the Sound of Iona and Erraid. Several of these have also reported juveniles within the group. Towards the end of April a similar sized group of bottlenose dolphins has been reported in the Sound of Mull, the sound of Arisaig and Calgary Bay. It is possible that this is the same group of individuals, but photographic images are required to know for sure, highlighting the importance of photo identification.

Seven Harbour porpoises have also been seen together off the Ardsheal peninsula travelling back and forth across Loch Linnhe doing a series of shorter dives followed by a longer one. Although this species is most typically seen in smaller groups, these animals may have been in a larger group because they were feeding.  .

In April we have also had our first sighting of killer whales, reported traveling south off the east coast of Shetland. We have since received images from this sighting and individuals have been identified as regulars to the area seen last year in the Yell Sound. They are also the only group to have been sighted both on the east and west coast of Scotland, having been photographed off St Kilda in 2006. 

    Strandings Update: Rare whales stranded in the Hebrides

In February, the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) received a report of two dead Cuvier’s beaked whales washed up on a beach in Islay. Cuvier’s beaked whales are a deep-diving species inhabiting waters off the continental shelf, and strandings are rare on the west coast of Scotland. A few days after the Islay strandings, we received another report, again of a Cuvier’s beaked whale, which had washed up on a beach in Tiree. Then a third report the next day of a possible beaked whale on Mull.

The following week, there were three more reports of beaked whale strandings, this time in the Outer Hebrides. Two of these were Cuvier’s beaked whales and the third was a Sowerby’s beaked whale. This was shortly followed by another Cuvier’s stranding on Mull. Such a high number of beaked whale strandings in such a short space of time within our study area is highly unusual. Over the past 16 years, 20 Cuvier’s beaked whale strandings have been reported in the whole of Scotland. Six, (possibly seven) of these were on the west coast of Scotland alone during February and March 2008.

Multiple strandings of beaked whales have previously been linked to military sonar activity. Although it is not fully understood how sonar affects whales, it is thought that exposure to mid-frequency sonar signals particularly affects species whose dives are long and deep, such as beaked whales. However, military sonar is not the only possible explanation – the beaked whale event has certain characteristics which suggest there may be other causes behind the event.

Dr Bob Reid at the Scottish Agricultural College Veterinary Science Division, co-ordinates the Scottish Strandings Network and conducts post-mortems on stranded animals. Most of the animals he examined were not fresh enough to obtain tissue samples, or determine the cause of death. However, in each case he was able to estimate roughly how long the animals had been dead. It appears that all animals may have died at a similar time, providing some evidence towards this being a multiple strandings event.

We do not know yet whether there were any military sonar exercises taking place in the area in the weeks preceding these strandings events. HWDT, along with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) have put in a Freedom of Information request to find out if these strandings may have been linked to sonar activity, and we are currently awaiting a response.

     March 2008 - sightings update

Until very recently, reports of strandings have been out-numbering live sightings. However, as we push through into the spring season, the sightings reports are at last starting to come in.  A small group of bottlenose dolphins were reported a number of times around the coast of Mull in February and sightings even included a spectacular encounter in Tobermory Bay where HWDT staff were able to go out and photograph the animals.

Small groups of bottlenose continued to be sighted in the area throughout March, much to the delight of local boat operators, many of whom were on their first trips of the season - a good omen for the rest of the season perhaps?

Whilst we are yet to receive the first minke sighting of the season, the first sighting of common dolphins was made during the first week of April. A group of around 30 commons were seen feeding vigorously off the Cairns of Coll by local boat operators.

A more unusual sighting of a pair of common dolphins reported to be residing in Loch Carron last autumn has turned out to be even more unusual since HWDT recently discovered that the pair are still in the loch seven months later! Common dolphins are usually seen in the Hebrides during the spring and summer months as they move into the area to feed on seasonally abundant fish, such as sandeels, herring and mackerel.

A local fisherman has been keeping us updated on sightings of this pair of dolphins who happily play around his fishing boat on his way in and out of the loch. The animals were confirmed as common dolphins from photographs he sent into HWDT and both individuals appear to be in good condition. They do however, according to the fishermen, appear to be reluctant to go beyond a certain point in the Loch, and have very much stayed in the same area all winter. Once the surveys season on Silurian gets underway, HWDT intend to make a trip up to Loch Carron to monitor the behaviour of these dolphins.

     October 2007

The beginning of October was marked by a small group of Bottlenose dolphins first seen at Craignure pier from the Oban to Mull Ferry. The dolphins then remained between Oban and Craignure over the next few days as they were seen several times along this ferry route. A similar sized group were then seen in mid-October in the northern end of the Sound of Mull playing around the Kilhoan ferry. Given the small number of bottlenose dolphins in the Hebrides, it is likely that these ‘ferry-huggers’ were the same group of dolphins seen earlier in the month! The nd of October was marked with a fantastic sighting of a ‘super-group’ of bottlenose dolphins. Again seen off Kilhoan in the Sound of Mull, by a local whale-watch boat who fortunately had cameras on board! Around 30 individuals were seen and many were identified and recognised from the photographs. Sightings of this species in the Hebrides are most commonly of smaller groups whereas larger groups of between 25 and 30 are more occasional. It is therefore possible that this was an aggregation of the entire population of Hebridean bottlenose dolphins!

There was one sighting of a minke whale in October off the Mull of Kintyre.

     September 2007

Sightings for September have been few and far between. Much of this can be attributed to the bad weather and also the fact that less people out looking as the summer season draws to a close.

There have been just a handful of minke whale sightings for the Hebrides. Basking shark sightings have also ground to a halt with just a couple of sightings for the whole of September. There have been just three sightings of bottlenose dolphins, all of small groups. Risso’s dolphins appear to have been in the area on a regular basis. According to one boat operator working around the Small Isles, they have been seen in recent weeks on almost a daily basis. Silurian came across a group of about 12 individuals in early September. Another group was then seen off the Mull coast a few days later by a local wildlife operator. Analysis and comparison of photographs obtained during both encounters will reveal if this was the same group.

Perhaps the most exciting sighting of September was of a humpback whale. The whale was spotted by a local charter boat who encountered the animal close to the entrance of Loch Hourn, near Mallaig. This is the third sighting of a humpback in the Inner Hebrides so far this year and came only two weeks after the previous sighting up in Loch Gairloch. Preliminary analysis of photographs of both individuals indicates that they were not the same animal.

    August 2007

Minke whale sightings have been more numerous this year than the last two years as sightings have continued to be reported throughout August. In 2005 and 2006 sightings of minke whales dropped quite dramatically from mid-summer onwards reflecting a possible shift in distribution from the Hebrides, to perhaps other feeding grounds further north. However, sightings from our research vessel, Silurian, and the community sightings programme have provided us with strong indications that this year the minke whales have remained in the area throughout the season. Dozens of identification photographs have been taken from local whale watch boats (Sea Life Surveys) and from on board Silurian. Analysis of these images will take place this winter and comparisons will be made with the existing minke whale catalogue to search for matches with our catalogued whales (see page ? for an example of a successful match).

Basking sharks have been the second most reported species in August after minke whales. August is usually the peak month for basking sharks and there have certainly been no shortage of sightings again this summer. The west coast of Mull and the coasts around Coll and Tiree continue to popular feeding areas for these huge plankton feeders.

In terms of dolphins, common dolphins were only reported twice in August, once by passengers on the Kilhoan-Tobermory ferry and once from a boat off the Isle of Muck.

A group of eight Risso’s dolphins were sighted off Ardmore Point (Sound of Mull) in mid-August. As for bottlenose dolphins, sightings have been coming in from all over the Hebrides, including some really good sightings around Armadale, Skye and around the Cuan Sound where the dolphins stayed in the area for days. Silurian came across two groups in August during our dedicated surveys. One group of 5-6 individuals was seen off Skye in early August and then a bigger group of 10-15 animals was seen further south in the Sound of Luing. Identification photographs reveal that these were different groups.

Killer whales have been sighted twice this August. At the beginning of the month, a group of five whales were spotted by a local boat operator between Muck and the Cairns of Coll and at the end of the month Silurian came across a male-female pair west of Canna. This is the first time in two years that Silurian has sighted killer whales during one of her surveys, giving some indication how rarely this species is seen in the Hebrides.

Another humpback whale was sighted by a wildlife operator up in Gairloch. This is the third sighting of a humpback whale in the Hebrides for 2007. Pictures of the tail fluke were taken by passengers on board and have been sent to the College of the Atlantic (based in?) where they will be compared with other tail flukes in their extensive database of catalogued humpback whales from all over the world, including NE Atlantic.

     July 2007

The good news is that Minke whales have continued to remain in the area throughout July. For the past two years, July has been the month when minke whale sightings have dropped dramatically in number so it is encouraging to receive reports of feeding whales at this critical time. There appear to have been more sightings further north, around the Small Isles and around Skye than the southern Hebrides. Neist Point on the north-west coast of Skye appears to have been a sightings ‘hotspot’ of late, with reports of large aggregations of feeding whales present.

July has been a productive month for killer whale sightings, with the highest numbers reported for any month so far this year. Several sightings of two killer whales travelling together were reported locally form various boats (Mull, Ardnamurchan area). Images sent in to us from passengers aboard a local boat reveal that the pair was a male and a female. The dorsal fin of the male appears to fit that of one of our catalogued males ‘Kinky’, named so due to its curved fin. But HWDT are awaiting more images before confirming this. More recently, a larger group of killer whales was seen by a boat operator in Loch Gairloch. This time we were fortunate enough to receive a couple of photos which enabled us to recognise at least one member of the group as John Coe. John Coe is a large adult male and is the oldest member of the HWDT catalogue. He is easily recognised by the large nick at the base of his dorsal fin.

A more unusual sighting of a group of pilot whales was reported off Lamlash Bay, Arran. Pilot whales feed mainly on squid and tend to be found off the continental shelf. However, they occasionally occur closer to the coast if there is an abundance of squid.

Sightings of basking sharks are still flooding in. They continue to be seen up and down the Hebridean coastline. Porpoises with young calves are also being regularly seen as calving season gets well underway.

Around six bottlenose dolphins spent several days in Mallaig Harbour in early July. A larger group then turned up in the Kilbrannan Sound. The field team from Aberdeen University were able to get photographs of both groups and found some members from each sighting were present in both groups! Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project. Please keep calling any sightings in on 0800 0858110.

     June 2007

Bottlenose dolphin sightings have featured highly on the sightings list for June with the majority of sightings being reported around the Mull coast. Groups of varying sizes have been seen regularly from ferries, local wildlife boats as well as from land. Dolphins even came into Tobermory Bay multiple times. Some of these groups have been photographed and successfully identified as known individuals from the HWDT photo-identification catalogue. Bottlenose groups were also reported further north, in Loch Torridon and off the Skye coast, as well as further south, off Campbeltown and Islay.

Minke whales continue to be reported in the Inner Hebrides with sightings still being reported around the Small Isles, off Coll and around the Treshnish Isles/Staffa area. There have also been regular sightings from boats operating in the Firth of Lorne area, in particular the Gulf of Corryvreckan. There was a slightly more unusual sighting in mid-June of a minke whale travelling up the sound of Mull.

Common dolphin and basking sharks also continue to be reported around the Hebrides on a regular basis.

There were three sightings of two killer whales reported from yachts and land observers. The first sighting was west of Islay, the second report off Iona a couple of days later and the third sighting a couple of weeks later around the Small Isles. One description fitted that of a very distinctive individual from the HWDT photo-identification catalogue.

An extrordinary sighting of a humpback whale was reported by a local boat operator on Friday. The whale was seen showing its tail about 1 mile south east of Staffa. Humpback whales are rare in the Hebrides and are usually only reported a few times each year.

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  May 2007

Minke whales continue to be regularly sighted around the local area, as well as further north and south of Mull. Common dolphins featured high on the list of sightings throughout May. in particularl, a very large group of several hundred dolphins were reported by local fishermen off the Isle of Coll.

Basking sharks have also being regularly reported throughout May, with most sightings around Coll, Tiree and the Treshnish Isles. There have also been sightings of the less frequently sighted species; Risso’s dolphins were seen feeding by one local boat operator near the Treshnish Isles and white-beaked dolphins were seen by another local operator off the Cairns of Coll.

Bottlenose dolphins were reported throughout May, and sightings were mainly confined to the Mull area. Small groups (3-5 individuals) came into Tobermory Bay itself twice in May and other sightings were around the Sound of Mull (including one larger group), and the Sound of Iona. For more information on the National Bottlenose Dolphin project click here.

Strandings:an adult male Atlantic white-sided dolphin was washed up on a beach on the west side of Mull in mid-May. Scientists from the Scottish Agricultural College came over to Mull to pick up the animal. Results from a post mortem examination revealed no obvious cause of death

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    April 2007

This season’s first minke whale was seen from a local fishing boat off the north coast of Coll towards the end of March. Since then a spectacular spell of settled weather in the Hebrides has led to good sightings of minke whales. Local whale-watch vessels have been treated to groups of whales actively feeding at the surface throughout April. Basking sharks reports have started early this year: first reports were received from fishing boats off the north coast of Iona in mid-April and since then reports have been steadily rising as the spring season gets into full swing. Bottlenose dolphins were reported by members of the public just once in March (off Colonsay) but were reported five times in April. Small groups were seen off Kilhoan pier (off north west Mull) and in Mallaig harbour at the beginning of the month and then again further south off the Arran coast. A few days later, five dolphins were seen off Easdale by a local boat operator. These dolphins stayed in the area and continued to delight passengers aboard MV Porpoise II for three consecutive days. A larger group turned up further north in the Sound of Iona in mid-April. Two sightings of common dolphins were reported in mid-April: a group of 20 were sighted off the west side of Iona and a small group of common dolphins were reported from a yacht off the Isle of Scalpay, north Harris.

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30th March 2007

This season’s first minke whale was seen from a local fishing boat off the north coast of Coll towards the end of March. The spring season has officially started!

February 2007

Sightings of cetaceans are picking up again now that the stormy winter is behind us and the daylight hours are increasing. Bottlenose dolphin sightings however, have been seen throughout the winter despite the weather. February was a particularly good month with eight sightings of bottlenose dolphins reported - all in south Argyll. The most southerly sighting was of three dolphins sighted from a motorboat near Campbeltown. The remaining sightings were reported from the Firth of Lorn area. It is possible that some of these sightings were of the same group (4-5 individuals) since they were seen in the same general area (Isles of Luing and Easdale) over a week period.

   Dec-Jan 2007

Stormy weather in the Hebrides has meant cetacean sightings have been few and far between for most of the winter. However, despite the persistent bad weather, bottlenose dolphin sightings have continued to prevail. There were five sightings in total in December, spread out over a substantial part of the Hebrides from the Kintyre peninsula in south to the Skye coast in the north. A highlight perhaps was a festive visit to Iona on Christmas day treating local residents to a grand spectacle! About 20 dolphins spent the day playing around the moorings in the Sound of Iona. Sightings of bottlenose dolphins continued into January with a pair spotted off the Mull ferry and a much larger group seen in the Kilbrannan Sound from land a couple of days later. This is the same area where a large group of dolphins were photographed and later identified as the same group seen off Mull a month before. So although we still have much to learn about the bottlenose dolphins in the Hebrides, it is looking more and more likely that the dolphins seen in this area belong to a small but wide-ranging population. A slightly more unusual sighting was of a young pilot whale in Loch Duich, Skye. The whale was reported by several members of the public due to its close proximity to the coast and visible blows. It remained in the loch for 2 weeks but sadly ended up stranding and died. There were no visible signs of injury but samples were recovered for post mortem analysis at the Scottish Agricultural College.

23rd November 2006

     Will this be this years last minke sighting?

A minke whale was seen last Thursday (23rd November) by a local fishing boat off Calliach Point, Mull. This sighting is quite late in the year for a minke as whales are now heading south to their winter breeding grounds in warmer waters. Also we receive fewer sightings as less people are out there looking…just the hardy fishermen (not that they have time for whale-watching!) This minke was seen amongst big shoals of fish at the surface. The fish were probably sprat and herring which are around at this time of year – perhaps the whale was having a quick snack en-route south?

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October 2006

     Humpback whale in Loch Long!

A rare sighting of a humpback whale was reported swimming up Loch Long on Monday 9th October and was reported again in the area (off Blairmore Pier) on Tuesday 10th. Loch Long is a very long (hence the name!), narrow sea loch just north of the Clyde estuary and is a fairly unusual location for whale sightings. Because of its presence in this inshore area, there were initial concerns that the whale may be disorientated or injured. However, the whale seems to be behaving normally and appears to be feeding too. This sighting comes just days after another report of a humpback whale which was spotted further north at the mouth of Gair Loch, Wester Ross. This whale was reported to HWDT by Gairloch boat operator, Nick Davies. The whales are most likely to be feeding on herring at this time of year as autumn is the season when the majority of herring around Scotland are moving inshore to spawn. Two humpback sightings in the same week may be an indication of good herring stocks this year on the west coast.

September 2006

There have been some interesting sightings so far for September. HWDT research vessel, Silurian, after two very quiet trips during the first half of September, has had a busy final monitoring trip to round the season off. Common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, minke whale and basking sharks were seen all in the same day surveying in excellent conditions out towards Barra! This was shortly followed by more common dolphins found feeding on the way back from Barra towards Skye and another group of bottlenose dolphins near Arisaig. This mini-burst of sightings comes long overdue after a pretty disappointing summer of survey work throughout the Hebrides .

Two bottlenose whales were seen by local whale-watch operator Sealife surveys on September 15 th . The whales were seen in Loch Sunart and were heading back out to sea towards Ardnamurchan point. This is the second sighting of this species in the space of a month. Three bottlenose whales were also seen at the end of August by a boat operator slightly further north, between Arisaig and the Isle of Eigg. Northern bottlenose whales spend the majority of their lives in deep-water habitats in the North Atlantic, however a southwards migration is thought to take place during late summer and early autumn explaining why we get the occasional sighting of northern bottlenose whales around our coasts at this time of year.

The bottlenose dolphin sightings hotline has gone very quiet. Perhaps the drop in visitor numbers at this time of year can partly explain this. However, one report finally came through on the 14 th of September of a very large group of about 20-25 dolphins spotted off the Mull of Kintyre. As usual we went through our normal procedure of phoning the research team on board Silurian and the Aberdeen University crew on the RIB to see if anybody was close enough to be able to respond. Unfortunately, neither vessel was anywhere near the Kintyre peninsula, throwing out the window the chance of getting any Photo-ID work done! The RIB decided it was worth heading down that way, but didn't arrive there until the next day. They were very fortunate to find the group of dolphins just round the corner in the Kilbrannan Sound. Some very exciting news has since come back from the team - they recognise many of the dorsal fins from individuals seen a month earlier in the Sound of Mull!

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August 2006

Sightings of Minke whales for August have been disappointingly low once again. Similar to last summer, reports of minke whales have dropped considerably in number compared to the early part of the summer.

Our surveys conducted from Silurian throughout the Hebrides have struggled to record them in any great quantity. Casual sightings reported to HWDT from up and down the west coast by members of the general public have also been few in number, providing no clues as to where our whales have gone to. Since the minke whales are moving into our waters to feed at this time of year, their absence is almost certainly due to a lack of food. Perhaps the sandeels, which are a small energy-rich schooling fish and an important food source for the minke whales, have been in short supply, much like last year.

Sightings of common dolphin seem to be unusually low for August also; in fact local whale watch boats didn't see any common dolphins during August. Common dolphin, like the minke whales move into our area during the summer months to feed and sightings usually peak in August. Common dolphin tend to be feeding on mackerel at this time of year, so perhaps 2006 is proving to be not just a bad year for sandeels but also for mackerel too.

Conversely, there seems to be no shortage of basking sharks as sightings of this huge plankitvorous fish continued to be reported around the west coast.

Bottlenose dolphin sightings have also been numerous this month with nine separate sightings reported to our freephone bottlenose dolphin hotline. These sightings are valuable and are contributing to a nationwide research project to study the distribution, population structure and movement patterns of this species. In addition to these sightings, bottlenose dolphin reports were sent into us from the Sound of Mull, around the Small Isles, Sound of Iona and the Kilbrannan sound.

Risso's dolphins were sighted twice by two boat operators; Summer Queen cruises who operate just north of Ullapool and Sealife Surveys who are based around Mull .

Perhaps the most exciting report of all was that of two killer whales spotted near the Treshnish Isles by Sealife Surveys. This was an extremely unusual sighting since the boat had in fact stopped to watch harbour porpoise and had no indication that there were any killer whales in the vicinity. Then, all of a sudden, two killer whales appeared out of nowhere and attacked the porpoise just metres in front of the boat! Much to the surprise of all the passengers and crew on board vessel, they had in fact just witnessed the first confirmed report of killer whales ‘attacking' harbour porpoise in the Hebrides .

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     July 2006

July 2006 was a great month for public sightings with Basking sharks and Harbour porpoise being the most commonly sighted species, spotted all over the Hebrides. The basking shark sightings appear to be going from strength to strength with several hundred recorded off the Cairns of Coll by HWDT research vessel Silurian at the beginning of July.

The minke whale numbers seem to be higher than this time last year which is encouraging news since mid-way through last July sightings reports rapidly dropped all over the west coast. Despite the steady influx of sightings, HWDT did unfortunately receive two reports of minke whale strandings this month, both near the Isle of Skye .

There have also been many reports of the more unusual species in and around the Hebrides with two Risso's dolphin sightings, one from a Sea Life surveys boat near the tip of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, and another off the Isle of Rhum. Atlantic white-sided dolphins were spotted in the deeper waters of the sea of the Hebrides and we had three confirmed killer whale sightings with three confirmed this month.

Bottlenose dolphin numbers were very healthy, as can be seen from the fantastic photographs taken from Loch Spelve, and we've even had them make another appearance in Tobermory bay! This made for a great start to our Bottlenose dolphin project with people calling our hotline from all over the west coast from Muasdale Holiday Park in the South, where Bottlenose dolphins are regular visitors, to tourists off the Isle of Skye reporting a group playing around their yacht.

June 2006

This report briefly summaries the reports that HWDT have received from members of the public in June. Sightings in this report include both those from land and from sea (yachts, ferries etc).

Sightings of cetaceans and basking sharks have continued to rise throughout June as the feeding season gets into full swing and as more and more people are out and about around the coasts watching wildlife; Minke whale reports have doubled since last month with the majority of sightings being reported around the west coast of Mull and the Mallaig and Small Isles area. Whales have been sighted further a field including off the north-west coast of Skye up Lower Loch Fyne.

June has been a good month for basking shark sightings, with many reports locally off the west coast of Mull and many anecdotal reports suggesting high numbers of sharks elsewhere, in particular around the Coll and Tiree coasts. Sighting reports of Common dolphin have risen sharply in June across the west coast. This increase in sightings coincides with the seasonal mackerel runs which bring shoals of this pelagic fish species to our coasts.

Bottlenose dolphins have been regular visitors throughout June and have mainly been seen in small groups of 2-4 individuals. Most reports of bottlenose dolphins have been around the Mull coast with the remaining few from the Kintyre peninsula and around the Skye coast.

There was only one report of two Orca's in June which was reported from a yacht in between Skye and Canna and only one report of four Risso's dolphins seen by Summer Queen cruises who operate out of Ullapool.

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    April & May 2006

The first sighting of a minke whale in the Hebrides for 2006 was reported from a local whale-watch operator, Sea life Surveys on the 14 th April, nearly a month later than the first sighting of minke whale last season. Despite a slightly late start to the 2006 whale-watching season, sightings of minke whales have continued to increase since then, in particular off the Mull coast. Throughout the month of May, local whale-watch boats have been finding whales on a daily basis feeding in the areas where they are usually found at this time of year (out towards Coll and Tiree, entrance to the Sound of Mull, Staffa and the Treshnish Isles.

Further north, the first minke whale of the season was seen in late April by Summer Queen Cruises, a boat-operator who work around the Summer Isles. In the Clyde area, a minke whale was seen moving southwards down Upper Loch Fyne, in between Leack and Furnace. Although minke whales occur less frequently in this area, it was probably drawn into the area by an abundance of small schooling fish, most likely herring. Reports of gannets also seen feeding in these areas is a good indication that herring are in good supply.

The most exciting sighting of the season so far, was a sighting of 2 Fin whales on 25 th May just off the Cairns of Coll. This sighting was extremely rare as this species, the second largest animal on the planet, is usually seen much further offshore between June and August in water deeper than 500m! Fin whales are feed mainly on planktonic crustacean, but will also take a variety of fish such as herring, sand eel, mackerel, blue whiting and also squid.

At the end of April a small group of bottlenose dolphins were seen in the Sound of Gigha by staff at the Muasdale Holiday Park . Bottlenose dolphins are sighted regularly from this point indicating that this part of the coast is an important area for this species. Closer to home, several sightings of 2 or 3 dolphins have been reported around the Mull coast over the last few weeks, including a possible report of a pair of dolphins south of Raasay.

The first basking shark report of 2006 was received on 21 st April and was sighted off the coast of Coll. Most reports so far have been concentrated around the Coll and Tiree coastline, with more recent sightings off Croig (north Mull ) and Loch Fyne. So the season appears to be underway, if not a little late getting started! We will keep you posted…..

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    January 2006

Although cetacean sightings have been few and far between for December and January, they are nevertheless extremely useful sources of information and provide much needed information on species distribution during the quieter winter months. Of particular interest are the reports of the bottlenose dolphins. There is still much we have to learn about the year-round distribution of the west coast population of bottlenose dolphins, and these valuable reports provide some insight into their winter movements and contribute towards the theory that the west coast of Scotland, like the Moray Firth, may support a year-round resident population of this species.

There were three separate sightings of bottlenose dolphins in January. The first report came in on the 3rd January not far from where they were seen on New Year’s Eve (South of Islay, off the Kintyre peninsula – see map). Local residents spotted the dolphins (approx. 14) moving slowly down the coast coming at times extremely close to the shore, in amongst the kelp! The other two sightings were reported within hours of each other on the same day (24th Jan) and both groups were of similar sizes and were seen in the Firth of Clyde. It is therefore probable that this was the same pod.

Common dolphins were apparently spotted from a ferry travelling between North Uist and South Harris. The dolphins were bow-riding with the ferry providing passengers and crew with a fairly unusual treat for this time of year.
Finally a large group of porpoises were seen off Turnberry point, Firth of Clyde. The observer also reported that he sees porpoises here in this spot all year round!